Lost at Sea

The Michigan power pop trios fourth album Lost at Sea is their first to be written together and this sense of camaraderie and togetherness has led to their most consistent sounding record yet, their simmering outrage at the state of the world also led to a little bit more angst in the lyrics and noise in the guitars. A couple of the songs here really tilt the scales toward the power side of the power pop equation, and that’s a good thing. "It Doesnt Matter" is a fiery blast of hard rocking guitar pop that bursts out of the speakers in the might verses, "The Message" unspools in a haze of blazing overdriven guitar, and a couple of other tracks quietly seethe. Surrounding these moments are plenty of harmony-heavy pop songs that show off their skills as writers of the kind of warm and comforting songs that the guys in Badfinger or Matthew Sweet consistently came up with. Tracks like "Temporary Thing" or "Let Me Explain" are perfect encapsulations of everything since the Beatles; tenderness and sadness balanced with gentle uplift and grace, sounding intricately human but also big enough to power a small city. Its a cliche to say something is so good its like a masterclass, but seriously, anyone looking to become a songwriter in this genre could learn more than enough from these guys on how to construct a song and deliver it exactly the right way. If that sounds like hype, check out "Everybody Knows" and try not to marvel at how catchy the melody is, how reassuring the vocal harmonies are, how thoughtful the lyrics are, and how touching the vocal is. Plus, it just sounds perfect. Someday when they are putting together a Power Pop of the 2020s comp, this should be one of the lead tracks. The Legal Matters first three albums were all very fine pop albums, but they felt a little disconnected at times, like it was three solo artists under one roof. This time they feel like a band and Lost at Sea is their most impressive work yet, sounding like the best record of 1976, 1996, and 2026 all at the same time. ~ Tim Sendra